Project Silica, Microsoft’s research initiative, has announced a major advancement bringing ultra-long-term digital storage in glass closer to practical use. The breakthrough, published in the journal Nature, shows that data can now be stored in ordinary borosilicate glass rather than rare and expensive fused silica.
Project Silica addresses long-term data preservation, a growing challenge as traditional storage media such as magnetic tape and hard drives degrade within decades. For organizations that must preserve information for centuries, current archival solutions are costly and fragile.
Glass offers a different approach. Data is written into the material using femtosecond laser pulses, creating microscopic three-dimensional data points embedded inside the glass itself. Once encoded, the data is highly resistant to heat, water, dust, and electromagnetic interference. Microsoft estimates the stored information could remain readable for at least 10,000 years.
Earlier versions of the technology relied on fused silica, a highly pure glass that is difficult to manufacture at scale. The new research demonstrates that the same methods work in borosilicate glass, a widely available material used in cookware and laboratory equipment. This change significantly lowers cost and improves the potential for large-scale deployment.
Several improvements also make the system faster and more practical. Data is stored in layered microscopic structures called voxels, and new writing techniques reduce the number of laser pulses required. This increases writing speed while simplifying the hardware needed to encode data.
The researchers also introduced a new method called phase voxels, which store information by modifying the internal phase structure of the glass rather than light polarization. Phase voxels require only a single laser pulse and allow for denser data storage. Machine learning models are used during reading to reduce errors caused by interference between closely packed data layers.
Writing performance was further improved through parallel encoding. By using multiple laser beams simultaneously and modeling how heat flows through the glass, many data points can be written at the same time. Light emitted during the writing process is used for automatic calibration and real-time control, supporting reliable automated operation.
Long-term durability was another focus of the study. New non-destructive optical methods were developed to monitor how stored data ages inside the glass. Combined with accelerated aging tests, the results indicate that the data should remain intact for thousands of years. Improved error correction techniques further strengthen reliability over extended time periods.
Project Silica has been demonstrated through several real-world tests, including storing a full-length feature film on glass and preserving music archives designed to last for millennia. With the research phase now complete, Microsoft has published its findings so others can build on the work. While no commercialization timeline has been announced, the results position glass-based storage as a credible future option for sustainable, long-term digital preservation.
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